Where is the Outrage??

A voice in the wilderness. It would be beyond presumption for me to suggest that this humble blog can influence anything in the universe. It is one of the few things I can do, however, to try!

Why today's title, "Where's the Outrage??".

In fairly simple terms there are three or four global situations which desperately require attention. Food, water, money, and governance are probably the top four in my view this morning (02/27/2011).

What was the initiator of the current uprisings in the middle east, beginning in Tunisia? Several credible reports have laid it at the feet of intolerable increases in food prices. The link below will get you to some information.

Fareed Zakaria (http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/fareed.zakaria.gps/ )

Why do I so often refer to Fareed Zakaria? IMHO he is an "Opinion Maker". Beyond his CNN program and it's audience, it is pertinent to examine who some of his friends are. George Soros is a personal friend. They have dinner together. So is Henry Kissinger. And Zbigniew Brzezinski. The list goes on and is extensive. Highly educated and incredibly well regarded among high level opinion makers he obtained his education at arguably liberal institutions. However, I would posit that that does NOT diminish his influence as an opinion maker. He is a member of the Council On Foreign Relations ( http://vimeo.com/10260395 ).

So, Food is number one, with a side trip to the CFR.

Second is water. Here I refer you to "Blue Gold" for an insight as suggested in previous postings on this blog. ( http://www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com/ ) with links for free viewing.

Third, money. Again, as mentioned in posts elsewhere, "The Creature from Jekyll Island" by G.Edward Griffin is an excellent resource for explaining money, albeit a confessed conspiracy theory book, the explanation of money is nonetheless valid.

And, finally, fourth, governance. Democracy, liberty, freedom and group dynamics or mob control are the key elements here along with propaganda and semantics. Democracy is tossed around much too Cavalierly without an understanding or definition of what it means for, my taste.

Call it a "Democratic" uprising or revolution and the "west" cheers it! Is that really best, I ask? What is the most efficient form of government (again, arguably)?
What is the most messy or least efficient?

I think our country represents the longest lasting democracy in modern history, does it not? It has taken us quite a number of years to get where we are today. For countries attempting to change their government from autocracies and theocracies and dictatorships to something else requires some patience on the part of everyone.

In my opinion "Think Tanks" (like CFR and others) serve the value of concentrating some of the best and brightest minds we have and allowing them to assimilate data and discuss and propose.

I'm not suggesting WE don't have to think, but what we say has less influence, usually, than what the think tank folks have to say. Maybe this is wrong, I'm not sure.

If you are not well informed about the global water crisis, or food crisis, or monetary crisis, or government crises it might be a good idea to start trying to improve your knowledge in these areas. You can write your senators and representatives and become involved locally in these issues and exercise your informed influence.

What do you think or have to say about this posting? I'm interested in your comments and want to learn. Jack

Unions

Starting at the beginning, a union forms a contract with a company/organization. That contract is negotiated by and agreed upon by both parties.

Why have unions gotten such a negative reputation among some groups? Probably because they want something for the people they represent that some others don't want the people to have, because they just don't, or because they say they can't afford it.

The real answer is this: the party that negotiates the best deal (often, if not, usually the unions) gets their way.

So the "cry-baby" corporations go wah, wah, wah, I don't wanna pay for this, or the "cry baby Unions" go, wah, wah, wah, you're being mean and unfair cause I can't have this, and eventually one side or the other gives in, or asks the govt. to mediate for them. I know, I've been there and I've done it, I'm not just talking out of my ....

Are there trade offs to be made? Sure! Labor has to decide how long it can go without pay. Organization has to decide how long it can survive w/o labor.

What have I left out? That, historically, unions have done a much more effective job of negotiating for their members than the organizations have done of negotiating for their shareholder owners? Well, yeah, I left that out, because I believe it's the topic of it's own blog.

Am I wrong or what? Please comment, I want to learn.

Budget Reminder

Just a reminder, the president proposes and the congress disposes.

The power of the nation rests with the Congress NOT the president.

Simple Solutions to Complex Problems

Not everyone is a critical or deep thinker, nor do they want to be. And in the USA and many other countries we are all entitled to our opinion and entitled to express it whether it is an informed one or not. That's what blogs are all about isn't it?

However, as a person with a bias toward "behaviorism" and "behavior modeling", I would say that when you want someone or a group to change their behavior, YOU must model the correct behavior you want them to adopt.

So, by way of example, if we all need to "tighten our belts" to make the country's economy better, then what better place to start than Government itself.

If the governor of Wisconsin wants unions to sit with him and talk about cuts, he should be willing to put something of his own on the table, IMO.

That is slightly more complicated than just saying "Maybe the people are fed up". Offering solutions is usually more complex than offering an opinion.

This blog entry, is itself, an example of a simplistic approach to a more complicated problem and should incite some critical and well thought out responses in reaction; showing me where I have missed the point or not thought through the situation adequately before typing. I hope so, anyway.



Below is a positive action you can take if you want to.



**********************************
Congressional Reform Act of 2011

1. Term Limits.

12 years only, one of the possible options below..

A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.

The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

Let me do you, the reader, a favor and reserve my "history of unions" speech for another time

Federal Budget 2012

This is not a rant blog about the Federal Budget. Below is a link to the appendix to the budget; that is where you find the line items that get so much media play regarding waste,etc. As important as it is, I don't have the time, patience or intellect to read through the whole thing, the appendix, much less the budget. But if anybody stumbles onto this blog, that does have those skills/abilities, here is the link to get you started.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Appendix

The effect of "Progress"

Let me begin by saying forcefully! I am NOT a back to nature environmentalist or anything else radical. Read this before going on,

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/0215/West-Africa-Rising-Could-rising-food-prices-spark-Egypt-style-revolt-in-Africa?cmpid=ema:nws:World%20Daily%2002162011&cmpid=ema:nws:Njg3OTY0NDk0NQS2

Follow my logic. The internal combustion engine and technological progress eventually led us to where we are today. One of the results of this has been our ability to move from the rural areas to cities, to use money to buy food and shelter, to be able to transport food to places that wouldn't normally have much, etc. You should see that each new event has built on top of the last. Same story with water. Without engines and motors, no water for central and southern California, right?

So where am I going with all of this obvious information? Well, without Water and Food (in that order of importance) we die right? The following link lists famines over time

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famines.

Try and correlate the famine dates with significant world events i.e. Irish potato famine and migration to United States, and Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Note the # of estimated deaths.

Back to today. With our modern transportation system hungry/thirsty people can get from famine to food much more easily than the Irish did if they want to.

While I've been ranting for a couple of decades the need to live where there is natural water and enough space to grow something to eat, only my son will know this.

And the point is? Save and preserve seeds for food. With roughly 10 humans being born and 6 who die every minute world wide, the arithmetic is against a decreasing population.

Is there a fix? Well, if there is it seems to escape me this morning. Maybe you've got some ideas. If so feel free to share them here.

Budget Numbers

Oh, I see!! I want it to sound like a big deal so let's see... what sounds best?
4.6 Billion a year
No, that sounds too little. How much time is left on my term. Let's see about 2 years.
That would be 9.2 billion to the end of my term. Still a little lite I think.
Hummmm? 46 billion, now that sounds good. Ok then, 46 billion over 10 years then.

Yeah, I like that, it sounds like a lot.

At Last, Bernie Madoff Gives Back - NYTimes.com

The article below is well worth reading, IMHO. Before reading further I urge you to "Google" crepuscular, and obfuscate. IMO we are victims of "If you can't convince them with Logic, Baffle them with bullshit". Each crisis over which we MIGHT have some control is obfuscated by a "crisis" over which we HAVE NO CONTROL. Egypt, while very significant, does not have to overshadow the report. Derivatives are not that difficult to understand or explain to someone with simple math skills, i.e. add, subtract, multiply and divide. If Jami Dimond is sick of hearing "Bankers, Bankers, Bankers!!" I'M sick of hearing bankers, brokers and financiers and regulators say "it's not my fault". Bullshit!! it IS YOUR FAULT!!! Every bit of it is YOUR FAULT BANKER!! If you're not personally responsible for the crime, you're guilty of poor or no due diligence, poor leadership and management and just down right stupidity (<-- Against which there is no law but should be, IMO)


At Last, Bernie Madoff Gives Back - NYTimes.com: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

What is Anarchy?

Here is MY practical working definition for/of Anarchy:

The LACK of; the ABSENCE of .... fill in the blank with, Leadership, rulership, authority, government, rules, etc.

Anarchy seems to be a word to describe the absence of something.

MY OPINION

Anarchy is, IMHO, a misused and overused word in too common use today. I would say that while more "wordy" than anarchy but more descriptive of a situation might be words like, disruptive mob, rebellious crowd, lawless behaving group, etc. This gives a descriptive adjective to some sort of group behavior.

And why would I say this is important; because if you use a word with legitimate multiple meanings, then you leave it up to me to choose the one I want. What I choose may NOT be what you mean. Therefore true, effective communication hasn't occurred.